Out of the Ashes

She was being withdrawn and resistant today, Marcus sighed. She'd been in the house entirely too long, and, as such, she'd hidden herself away in her room for days. Her father's promise still was unkept. Two years, and Robert hadn't seen it the proper political time to put Khaat's disfigurements to rights. He'd left her that way, knowing he was the only wizard capable of healing her, and all for political strategy. For the greater good. As a father, Marcus found it hard to work for a man who was perfectly willing to offer up his only child for what he believed was the greater good. Marcus didn't see himself being able to leave his own child in that predicament. As it was, Marcus's assignment was to bodyguard the former Chief Warlock who had become so reclusive.

He'd been a bit manipulative on purpose. She kept a stack of new books to read, and he'd slowly slipped one out after the other, letting the stack grow smaller and smaller, until it was so small that she was getting edgy with anxiety about not having more to read. He'd deliberately caused it so that he could get her to leave her room in order to go out. He'd bribed her with the bookstore.

The Hogwarts train had taken the students to the castle, so the clamour was done for textbooks. The bookstore was quieter today, an advantage. Still she hid herself beneath a long full black cloak, and pulled the oversized hood over her head so that it hid her face.

"Two minutes," she said to him, ever self conscious. He simply smiled and nodded. Two minutes, my eye, he thought, satisfied. Flourish and Blotts could never be managed in two minutes. She separated herself from him to go peruse the shelves. She had an interest in many things. A former Gryffindor with a growing interest in books. He let her slip upstairs to the shelves to the mysteries, the fantasies, the fiction. He had to admit, they could provide a wonderful escape.

It would have made him smile, if she weren't using it to hide from life in general. She pulled out several different books, found an upholstered bench in between the shelves, and had sat down to simply check the books out to create a new stack of adventures to hide in. He wanted to help her regain the confidence and the zest for life she'd once had, and he just didn't know how.

Esmeralda walked into Flourish and Blotts humming to herself, wore a long black spaghetti strap summer dress with a lacy baby blue shawl that covered her shoulders. She hummed as she browsed the books looking for anything new she didn't already know. She had many books already but felt that one couldn't have too many. She had finished the books she had bought a week ago and wanted something more interesting.

She looked through the titles picking ones every now and then to look at the description of them. She grinned as she found several of ones she wanted. She was looking at some that were near a bench when she dropped a few of them. One landed on her foot and two other fell sliding in front of a woman on the bench.

"I'm so sorry," She told the woman who was sitting on the bench. She went to pick up the book she dropped on her foot and lost her hold on the rest. She sighed thinking that today wasn't her day now. She bent down and carefully started picking up the books trying to make sure that she didn't drop anymore.

"Oh," Khaat said, nnot really rattled by the falling books. She did it herself most every time she was at the bookstore now, with her left arm still paralyzed. She reached down to pick up the two books in front of her, and her hood slipped off her head.

She was flooded with embarrassment because face was now visible. There had been a time when she'd been known for being beautiful and graceful. Now when people looked her, they stared or pointed or mumbled things to each other about her. Or, when it wasn't that, it was the bloody wizarding paparazzi that were tailing her and trying to get pictures of her. She was one of the famous Lupins. The former Chief Warlock, daughter of the Minister, niece of the legendary Remus Lupin. The press followed her almost everywhere.

She picked up the two books and handed them to the beautiful young woman standing nearby. "It's nothing," Khaat managed with a small smile, wishing she'd not let Marcus talk her out the veil she usually wore over her face. "I do it all the time. I've read these two, by the way. They were really good."

She glanced to her own mounting stack. She fully intended to make Marcus pay by creating an enormous stack of books he would have to carry for baiting her out of the house. As of now, the stack wasn't big enough yet to make him struggle. There had to be more. Lots more.

"Nice shawl, by the way," she said. "Its a good color for you."

Esme smiled at the woman who picked up the books she dropped. Then when her hood slipped she began thinking of ways to make something for her so the woman didn't have to think about that. She took the book from the woman and smiled before setting the rest down in a pile on the floor. She took the woman's hood and slipped it back on. She grabbed a clip out of her pocket and secured it for the woman.

"Yeah I tend to drop books a lot when I'm shopping for them." She smiled as she picked up her stack of books off the ground. Looking at the two books the woman handed her and grinned even more. "I can make you something for you that will help better than a hood. That's if you want of course," She gave a small smile not knowing what the woman would say.

"Thanks, I made it from left over material from a dress I made recently." She said with a smile. "I'm Esmeralda, but you can just call me Esme."

"Thank you," Khaat said, when the woman added a clip to her hood.

"I'm certainly open to other ideas," Khaat said when the woman said she could come up with something besides her hood. "I try to use my hood but on sunny days, it does feel like I'm a little more overdressed than I like." She glanced at Marcus, who was leaning against the wall, thumbing through a biography of an expert dueling instructor. "He doesn't like my using the hood either because he says it cuts down on my field of vision. Says I don't see as much around me with the hood up."

The woman introduced herself as Esme.

"I'm Khaat," Khaat replied, "and this is my shadow, Marcus." Well, anyone who had seen the Daily Prophet in the last four or five years, knew surely who Khaat was and probably would recognize Marcus because, as her bodyguard, he couldn't possibly escape the paparazzi around her. When they took photos of her, they took photos of him too. He was in almost every photo of her that the paper had had in the last couple years.

"Your welcome," Esme said with a smile.

"Well I can think of several ideas off the top of my head." She said thinking of several ways to keep a hood over her head. "That's true sometimes wearing a hood looks a little overdressed on sunny days. A friend of mine has a sister who wears a hood but it's not something I'm able to help with unfortunately." She looked where the woman did and nodded at her response turning her head back towards the woman. "Well yes it does kind of cut into your line of vision. I can make you a hood that covers your face but still gives you excellent line of sight."

"It's nice to meet you Khaat." Esme said then giggled softly. "He looks more like a statue than a shadow though." She grinned widely. "What kind of books do you like? And do you have an recommendations? I feel like one can never have too many books."

She looked at Khaat's pile of books and then at Marcus, she lowered her voice to where only Khaat could hear her. "How many books are you willing to get? I know many that are long stories but they are also slightly heavy in weight."

"I've got a few veils that I bought, but if its windy, they don't stay in place either. And they're hard to manage with one hand. My left hand, well, it doesn't work. He tries," she gestured towards Marcus. "He does fairly well adjusting them, I mean, as well as anyone can adjust them. But, yes, I need something better. And he nags about the whole line of vision issue."

"That's because at the rate you attract trouble, it would be nice if you saw it coming," Marcus said dryly.

"He looks like a statue," Khaat told Esme, "He just never sounds like one. I love mysteries, but any sort of fiction, really. There's a new genre from about five different authors about wizarding chefs. They're pretty casual reading, and its good for something light. So far, I've liked all those. I'm hoping to find more of the haunted house sort of thing right now, for some reason. And I think," she said with a bit of a sly smile, "I'm willing to get, oh, many more. I keep a number of books I'm wanting to get to, and I must have gotten though them all because the stack is almost empty. I really should replenish for the fall. Maybe for reading until Christmas." She shifted her eyes to Marcus, who was rolling his eyes in irritation.

"Well veils are good for like a variety of things but once the wind comes it's better to just leave them alone. Well what I'm thinking of you won't need you hand to hold it steady." Esme said as she looked over at Marcus then back at Khaat. "Yeah they can be a pain sometimes when comes to adjusting them. How long would you want it? I can make it as long or as short as you want it, but no matter what it won't block you line of vision."

She almost laughed at Marcus' comment simply because he sounded like an exasperated parent. "Well with what I'm gonna make her she won't have to worry about that anymore." She said to Marcus gave him a small grin then turned back to Khaat.

Esme giggled at her words about Marcus. "Ooh I know some really good ones that I've picked up recently that you might like. I tend to go for any kind of romance novel or mystery. I know where some new haunted house ones are they are over a corner in the back, why they are put back there I'll never know." She said trying to remember where all the really good ones were. She looked at Khaat's smile and grinned before dropping her voice enough that Marcus couldn't hear her. "If we shop together I can keep you busy till at least New years with all the good books. Do you think he may have taken a few and hidden them?" She asked looking over her shoulder at Marcus before turning her attention back to Khaat.